For example, the so-called ‘prosimians’ (lower primates) have a completely different hand structure than seen in the so-called ‘simians’ (higher primates – including human kind). Because in ‘prosimians’ the 4th digit is typically the longest of all 5 digits, while in ‘simians’ the 3rd digit is typically the longest.

But there is so much more to tell about the hand structure in primates. For example, there is a clear pattern in the male-female hand difference (males tend to have relatively longer fingers + wider palms than females), and the typical hand features seen in gorillas & baboons – who are both known as the most violent primate species!

And interestingly… the Primate Hands Family Tree also gives us a better understanding of the nature of the 2D:4D digit ratio (far most primates species have a much lower ratio than seen in human kind) and the fascinating dermatoglyphic ‘whorl’ patterns (in nearly all primate species ‘whorls’ are more common than in us humans).

The article ‘Primate Palm Reading‘ includes a summary of many interesting facts about the evolutionary basis of modern palm reading – including 20+ fascinating illustrations!